1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to gaming systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing the appearance to players of playing an actual poker hand, while playing a game where the actual outcome is predetermined.
2. The Prior Art
Fixed pool games often forming the basis of games used by state and private lotteries. A fixed pool game is one in which a specified amount of money or prizes (the prizes having calculable monetary equivalents) are distributed into a set of individually purchasable units (typically tickets), where each individual unit has a known cost. The tickets include winning and losing tickets. The total amount of prizes, the prize distribution (i.e., the number of prizes at each level), and the total return are known at the game's outset.
The two most common form of tickets are pull tab tickets, called pulltabs, and scratch-off tickets, called scratchers. Pull tab tickets are typically constructed from paper having two layers. The first layer has some type of indication of the purchasers' winnings, if any, and the second layer covers the first. The second layer is typically glued to the first layer around three edges, covering the results. The fourth edge typically has a small tab, allowing the purchaser to grab hold of it. The tab, upon being pulled, pulls the layers apart and reveals the purchasers' winnings, if any. Scratchers use an opaque material that covers portions of the ticket, where the covered portions have the predetermined results on them. The purchaser scrapes off the opaque material, revealing any winnings.
The distribution of the total winnings, coupled with the cost of each individually purchasable unit, is determined by those making up the game. The exact mechanics and mathematics of each game pool depends on the goals of the issuer, including the target play audience (how much to charge per purchasable unit or ticket or play), the desired return on investment, and size of the pool, as well as other considerations known in the art. Once a game is mathematically mapped out, the tickets for the entire game are printed and distributed. The tickets are usually organized into decks with different decks sold to different locations. Players, by purchasing a ticket, are buying one individually purchasable unit from the overall ticket or game event pool.
This is referred to as a fixed-pool lottery, meaning there is a fixed pool of tickets (or results) having a predetermined number of winners and losers, and a purchaser takes a chance on getting a winning result by entering the “lottery”, meaning taking the chance they will by a winning ticket from the pool.
To make the results more interesting to a player, fixed-pool lottery based games recently been displayed on video-based lottery machines. One particular representation shows a poker hand, where the video game attempts to mimic actual poker play. The player bets a certain amount to play the game. This corresponds to an individually purchasable unit or ticket. The game will typically get a game result using a random drawing from a pool of game results located on a central server. The result is sent back to the game machine. The game machine then attempts to represents the results as a poker game.
Up to the present time, game machines using fixed-pool lotteries which have attempted to represent the predetermined winning amount by mimicking poker play have had significant limitations. In particular, the prior art machines would present the player with a 5 cards (mimicking a hand), selected to allow the already-determined win amount to be shown from the cards displayed. The player would indicate which cards to hold and which to discarded. If a player is not a good poker player, or is going for long odds, if is likely they will discard cards that were needed to make up the predetermined win amount.
As an example, assume the predetermined game result required the player to end up with a full house. The player's initial hand shows two pair. If the player discards one from each pair, leaving three unrelated cards, a full house cannot be created with the new draw. The prior art game overrode the player's hold choices and discarded the “correct” cards, resulting in a new hand having a full house.
The action of overriding a player's choices completely ruins the illusion of playing poker. There is a need to have a game, based on the use of fixed-pool lotteries, that better mimics true poker play from a player's perspective.